Getcha motor runnin...or something

October 8, 2015 7:37 PM

Geraldo Rivera interviews the Hell's Angels (1974) (Direct video link)

Features a brief cameo of Don Imus making som ill-advised remarks. a Real Period Piece.

posted by jonmc (7 comments total)

I re-watched this not very long ago and I think it's a pretty great slice of the 1%er essence. There was a thread on here recently about the Waco gunfight between the Cossacks and Bandidos in which a lot of Canadian posters were frothing mad about clubs like the HA. The Angels have been around since the late 40s. The founding members were WWII veterans. The club has gone through many changes over the years and yes, there is a troublesome criminal element that goes with the history. But here I think you can see some of the last remnants of the "fraternal solidarity" motorcycle club ethos, before the 1980s came along and it became all about crime and trying to be a badass.
The Jerry Garcia part is the best, IMO.
Also, the Don Imus part was striking for me. I didn't grow up in the 70s and I had no idea who he was until the "nappy-headed hoes" thing came out. After watching this I was kind of surprised at the media reaction to his comment, given that his shock-jock status had been well established. Doesn't necessarily make it okay for him to say, but it didn't seem out of place for him.
posted by Demogorgon at 11:37 PM on October 8, 2015

Oh, and perhaps fittingly, the big guy they interview part way through with his wife was Big Vinny Girolamo, a famous Hells Angel of Jewish descent who was stabbed to death in a knife fight with one of his HA brothers.
posted by Demogorgon at 11:46 PM on October 8, 2015

But here I think you can see some of the last remnants of the "fraternal solidarity" motorcycle club ethos, before the 1980s came along and it became all about crime and trying to be a badass.

I dunno about that. In the 1970s the few bikers I personally knew were Vietnam vets who came back a little messed up, with nasty drug habits, and the crime and the violence came along when the clubs started supplying the East Coast with crank. Those guys were not "trying" to be badass and they scared the crap out of me and I'd like to see the footage of Geraldo mouthing off at eight or nine of them in front of one of their clubhouses, but his camera crew conveniently "split".
posted by three blind mice at 12:55 AM on October 9, 2015

You misunderstand me. When I refer to club members "trying" to be badass, I mean they are perpetrating legitimate crime and violence. Not just wannabes. That stuff really started in the 70s when cocaine was getting big, and then took off in a major way in the 80s, when murders, turf wars, and major drug busts became commonplace. I don't think there's anything truly badass about knocking people's heads in and getting in gunfights. It's not noble, it's just stupid and self destructive. But prospects nowadays feel like they have this reputation and history to live up to. Others just feel like the club structure provides a good framework for dealing drugs or furthering other criminal enterprises.
That wasn't how any of this stuff started out though. In the 60s and earlier, motorcycle clubs were mostly about freewheeling, having a good time, and maybe skirting the law to smoke grass or drop acid. You had to be tough to live that life, but guys weren't taking steroids and strung out on meth all the time.
Much as I hate the show, Sons of Anarchy alludes to this with Jax's dad. He was a Vietnam vet and when the club started to become violent and destructive, he wanted to try to coax it into a different direction.
I dunno, read Hunter S. Thompson's Hells Angels and Sonny Barger's Hell's Angel if you're so inclined. They're great to compare because Thompson is mostly interested in telling a great story and naturally embellishes some things. But he also details the kind of shit that usually gets "hushed up," or that no one will cop to. Barger, on the other hand, is one of the most famous Angels of all time. His side of things is a lot different and he picks out some of Thompson's account as demonstrably false. On the other hand, you get the feeling as a reader that he is intentionally leaving some things out to perhaps paint a rosier picture. Personally, I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
posted by Demogorgon at 1:43 AM on October 9, 2015

In the 60s and earlier, motorcycle clubs were mostly about freewheeling...

"The 60s" didn't survive the Vietnam war. The hippies disappeared with the end of the draft, the same year as the economy took a dive after the first "Arab" oil embargo and then it was all 1970s baby - stupid and self-destructive - and ending in disco. This "period piece" really shows you some of the "pre disco" glory of it.

I like how Geraldo takes a knife from one of the big guys - no metal detectors in the studio back then.
posted by three blind mice at 2:30 AM on October 9, 2015

I don't like Geraldo Rivera that much either but I'm not half bloodthirsty enough to be gleeful about watching him get stabbed.
posted by ardgedee at 4:40 AM on October 9, 2015

I really dig the opening collage animation and the studio band's version of "City of New Orleans."
posted by snottydick at 7:32 AM on October 9, 2015